Are You Sure I'm Still Perfect?
by Junkpie
Summary: A three part story with Remus Lupin. Hope you like it. RemusxOC
1. Chapter 1

"Done," Remus dropped his quill onto the table and rolled up his essay.

"What's the rush?" I frowned at his hurried movements, his eagerness to leave. I groaned. "Don't tell me you have to do that thing again."

"It's the last night, I promise." He tucked the essay into his bag, his eyes not meeting mine.

"Will you tell me what it is you're doing?"

He looked at me then, his haste abated, and shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry."

"Then I'll follow you and find out myself." I collapsed back into the sofa, my eyes drifting over to the fire.

He fell next to me on the sofa. "Promise me you won't."

I turned to look at him: His eyes were so full of fear. "What are you hiding?"

"Don't come after me."

"Why not? It kills me when you disappear to God knows where, how else am I supposed to find out?"

"It's killing me too, but I can't bring myself to tell you."

I took a deep, laboured breath. "Do you know how hard it's getting for me to trust you?"

"I know, I'm sorry, it's not my fault. I have to go. Promise me you'll stay here?"

"I'm not promising anything." I wanted to hate him. He looked at me, his lips parted.

The portrait hole opened behind us, and Sirius ran over, closing his hand around Remus' wrist and dragging him to his feet.

"What the hell are you doing, Moony? There's no time left."

"She said she'd follow us." Remus whispered; Sirius looked at me, his stance intimidating, and then shouted for Wormtail.

"What is it?" Peter clambered through the hole and limped over to us.

"Stay here with Naomi."

"Why?" Peter frowned, looking quickly at me then back to Sirius.

"She's threatening to follow us."

"Fine. You guys had better hurry." He nodded towards the window and the other two ran out of the room. Peter sat down next to me, wincing as he put his left foot up on the coffee table.

"What's up with your foot?"

"Lost my footing on the way up here and fell down half a stair case."

"You should go to the hospital wing."

He shook his head, trying his hand at a tough-guy persona. "Nah, it's nothing really. I've probably only twisted it."  
"Can I have a look at it?"

"What?" He turned to face me, frowning.

"I'm pretty good with feet." I leant forward, reaching out for his foot.

He moved his leg to the side. "Um... I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

"What? Why not?" I faked hurt. "I'm just trying to help you out."

He frowned to himself, thinking it over, and then groaned. "Alright then." He turned his body to face me and moved his left leg from the table to the sofa. I gently pulled his shoe off and placed it on the ground.

"What are you gunna do when school's finished?" I asked; it probably wouldn't work unless I kept him talking. I moved my finger tips over the arc of his foot, lightly tracing figure 8's.

He sat for a few seconds with a thoughtful frown creasing his forehead. "Probably go and stay with my mum for a bit, apply for a job at the ministry, and after a couple months get a place of my own." He exhaled deeply. "It's gunna be really weird to not see everyone all the time."

"You'll still see them," I nodded slightly. "You may think that you'll never see them again, that you'll drift apart after a few half-assed phone calls, but I know how tight you guys are. I don't think something as trivial as leaving school could drive a wedge between you."

He smiled. "You think so?"

"I'm pretty damn sure so." I told him.

"Hey, I can barely feel my foot anymore." He flashed me a grin. "What about you? What are you gunna do?"

I shrugged, smiling to myself. "I'm not sure yet. Probably rent a flat and get the first job I find." I laughed gently. "I'm not a particularly ambitious person."

"Oh. You know, I was thinking you'd shack up with Remus somewhere. How long have you been together now?"

"Two and half months. Not really long enough to 'shack up'. And speaking of Remus..." I eased up a bit more on the pressure I was putting on his foot, not that there was much of it to begin with. "Are you gunna tell me what he's doing in that forest or do I have to find out myself?" My voice adopted a threatening undertone and I fixed him with a dark stare.

"No, I'm not gunna let you leave."

"What are you gunna do, hobble after me? It's not like you could run." I jumped up and ran to the portrait hole.

"Hey!" He pulled his wand out of his pocket. I mirrored his movement and cast _expelliarmus_ before he could act. He started after me, realising for the first time the abundance of pins and needles I'd given him. "What the-" His leg gave out underneath him and he tumbled onto the floor.

"Sorry, Peter, it's nothing personal." I ran through the first couple of corridors, taking all the shortcuts I knew, and then, when I was adamant Peter was too far behind to catch up, slowed to a walk. Guilt crept up on me. Whatever Remus was hiding from me was between me and him. I hoped Peter wasn't hurt.


	2. Chapter 2

The night air hit me cold and hard when I stepped out onto the school grounds. A soft breeze played through my hair until I reached the edge of the forest. I looked up, and to either side of me. How long would it take me to find them in there? I walked along the fringe of trees until I came to the path. This wasn't worth getting lost over.

Twenty minutes and two hours would've felt the same in the dark, damp trees. It was hard to focus on anything I could use to keep track of time when eyes watched from the shadows; more eyes than any creature could need. Eventually something pushed everything but terror from my mind. My eyes widened and I froze, the breath knocked out of me.

The wolf - although it wasn't so much a wolf but a bear-like dog - fell forward through the trees onto the path ahead of me. I felt exposed; all it had to do was look to the side - I was in clear view, and I doubted a thing with teeth like that would hesitate to kill. It shook its elongated head and the nose began to shrink back into the skull. The fur shortened and vanished, the claws receded and the legs became human again.

And then there was Remus, on all fours, breathing fast and heavy. He rested his head on the ground, struggling to regain his breath. I stepped back slowly, and my shoelace snagged on the rough bark of a fallen branch. I pulled, too hard, and stumbled backwards, tripping over a tree root. Remus's head snapped around and he saw me climbing to my feet.

"Naomi," His voice cracked through the forest, echoing through the lack of civilisation. He hurried over, his shredded clothes billowing out behind him.

"Stay back," I told him, unable to convince my instinct, subconscious, whatever the hell it was, with the rational thought that this was _Remus_. I backed away, my wide eyes moving from him to the view of the path over my shoulder – I couldn't trip again.

"Naomi, please, I'm sorry. I couldn't tell you."

I turned and ran, each step I took resounding from the old tree trunks, mingling with those of his as he followed. I didn't know if I could out run him. I did know that I couldn't run until I got out of the forest - it had taken too long to walk here. He shouted for me to wait, stop, please, I'm sorry, until he caught up with me. I cursed myself for not being able to run better. Sometimes the inability to run like the wind is the death of innocent people.

"Listen to me, Naomi," He turned me around to face him and for the first time I realised that, at the same time as he did, my cheeks were wet. He whispered my name, wiping my tears away with his fingertips.

I cringed away from his touch. "Please don't hurt me." I sobbed, trying to twist away from his grasp. He lowered his hand from my face, shaking his head. "Naomi, I'd never-"

"Please, I'm scared."

"You've got nothing to be scared about." He put his hand on my face again and I let out a fearful sob. He pulled his arms away from me and I started running again. This time he didn't follow.


	3. Chapter 3

My eyes opened and stung from the night before. I took a few shaky breaths before turning to see the clock. I'd slept through three extra hours of my Saturday. I twisted to face the other way, towards the wall. I drew the cold sheets closer and wrapped my arms around my shoulders. I closed my eyes, the image of the wolf morphing into Remus flashing through my mind. I no longer feared him. I felt sorry for him, wanted to hold him.

I launched out of bed and pulled on the first set of clean clothes I came across. As I thought of his face when I said I was scared of him I wanted to burst into tears. My heart should have broken when he looked at me like that, but I was too wrapped up in the shock, too full of fear of what was inside him.

I ran through the common room and I took the stairs up to his dorm two at a time, but stopped at the door, my breathing loud in the silent staircase. I pushed the handle down slowly and opened the door a crack. Remus lay asleep in his bed, no doubt tired out from the night before. James, Sirius and Peter must've gone down to breakfast already, because their beds were empty. I shut the door behind me as gently as I could and looked at him, so silent, so peaceful, so human.

I crossed the room, my footsteps muffled by the bed socks I'd left on. I lifted his sheets and climbed in without touching him. I lay there, watching his chest rise and fall with each breath. After a couple of minutes breathing wasn't enough; I reached out and rested my hand on his chest. My skin must have been cold – he awoke with a small gasp. He saw it was me and froze, maybe afraid he'd do something to scare me.

"I'm not scared of you." I whispered, his heart beat jumping along next to mine. He just looked at me, gripped by caution. "I know you wouldn't hurt me." My voice wavered. "I'm sorry." I moved my hand up to the side of his neck, kissed the opposite corner of his jaw and rested my head beside his.

He lifted one hand and brushed my cheek with his fingers. "I didn't want you to find out like that. I just didn't know how to tell you, or how you'd take it. I was too frightened I'd scare you away. After last night I thought..."

"I don't know why I said those things. I wasn't scared, not really, just shocked. I freaked out. I'm fine now, though, and I still want to be with you."

"Really?" A grin started on his face. He tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear.

"of course." I lifted my head to look at him. "I love you, no matter what's inside you."

His grin widened. "You love me?"

I nodded.

"How long?"

"For about eight minutes. I saw you sleeping; you were so human and peaceful... I couldn't think of you as anything but _you_."

He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pressed his lips to the top of my head. "I love you too."

"And so you should. I'm pretty damn amazing." I joked, propping myself up on my elbows to look at him. "And you're okay too." He smiled and kissed me ardently, his muscular arms enveloping me. He rolled over so he was on top of me. "Ok," I whispered breathlessly when he moved his lips to my neck. "You're perfect."

He smiled against my skin and moved off me. "Perfect?"

"Yes." I rested my head on his shoulder and put my hand on his chest, his heart beat coursing through me again. I saw something that, judging by how fresh it looked, he'd picked up in the forest last night. I watched my hand slide down his chest, over the solid contours of his stomach, and onto the five inch cut over the front his hip. Someone had healed it, but only enough to stop the bleeding. He winced when my fingertips reached the wound; my hand jerked back.

Remus played gently with my hair, a tortured look on his face. "You still sure I'm perfect?"

I wordlessly reached over to his bedside table, found his wand and sat upright. "Vulnera Sanentur." I moved the wand over the cut and it started to heal, the wound getting shallower, then the redness fading. I gently kissed where the cut had been and crawled back into his arms. "You are now."


End file.
